Suspects Freed in Israeli Election Bribery Probe

Israeli police released two of three suspects in an alleged voter bribery case on Sunday.

The move weakens Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party effort to cast doubt on last week's parliamentary elections.

Noam Sohlberg, the head of the elections committee, stated that the vote stands even if foreign interference claims are proven.

Police arrested three political activists on October 27, before polls opened, with envelopes of cash.

Officers claimed the money was intended to bribe voters connected to the Islamist party Ra'am.

Ra'am denied involvement in the scheme.

Two days after the initial arrests, police detained four additional suspects.

A judge reviewed police requests for further restrictions on the first three suspects on Sunday.

Police reported that one suspect was released with unspecified conditions.

Another suspect was ordered to remain on house arrest for eight days.

The detention of the third suspect was extended for two days.

Mansour Abbas, leader of Ra'am, called the arrests undemocratic in a statement on Sunday. "It is an attempt to influence the election results," Abbas said. Ra'am captured eight seats in the 120-member Knesset during the October 27 vote. Netanyahu’s parliamentary bloc fell to 53 seats, down from 68 in the outgoing parliament. A bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot won 48 seats. Arab-led parties won the remaining 19 seats. The opposition blocs combined hold 67 seats, enough to form a new government. President Isaac Herzog will begin meeting with elected parties on Wednesday. He will select the candidate he believes can form a coalition. That candidate is most likely Netanyahu or Eisenkot. The Shin Bet security service opened an investigation into foreign interference at the request of the election commission. Sohlberg appeared in a video released Sunday with the Shin Bet chief and the attorney general. "Our position is that even if the suspicions are substantiated, this would not undermine the integrity of the electoral process," Sohlberg said. Likud issued a statement questioning how serious allegations can exist without affecting the outcome. Eisenkot accused Netanyahu of an orchestrated campaign to delegitimize the results. Eisenkot said Shin Bet briefed him on the investigation. He insinuated that Qatar supported opposition parties to unseat Netanyahu. Qatar denied funding activities meant to influence the election. Yousef Jabareen, leader of the Joint List of Arab parties, noted that Likud content on election day targeted Arab voters. The Joint List won 11 seats in the new parliament. "In moments of crisis, he reverts to his familiar tactic: racist incitement and the delegitimization of the Arab public," Jabareen said.